SEDRO-WOOLLEY — A police officer shot and killed a 57-year-old Mount Vernon man Tuesday afternoon on Highway 20 after the man brandished a gun during a traffic check and tried to flee, said Sedro-Woolley Police Chief Doug Wood.
Around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, the police officer spotted a banged-up, maroon Chevrolet Blazer driving erratically heading north on Highway 9, Wood said.
The officer pulled the vehicle over and saw that the driver had a handgun. Wood said the officer backed away. The Blazer then turned and headed west on Highway 20, still driving erratically, Wood said.
According to police Lt. Lin Tucker, the pursuing officer reported that the car was damaged and would likely break down soon.
The Blazer stopped completely on Highway 20 just inside the Sedro-Woolley city limits. Wood said the officer stopped behind the Blazer, and the vehicle’s driver got out and approached the officer on foot.
The officer ordered the suspect to stop, Wood said.
“He pulled a handgun again, forcing the officer to shoot him,” Wood said.
Tucker said Sedro-Woolley officers arrived on the scene and performed first aid on the suspect, but the man was dead when paramedics arrived. His name has not yet been officially released.
No officers were injured, and there was no one with the man during the incident. The officer fired at least two rounds at the man, Wood said.
Tucker said the suspect brandished a .45 caliber handgun and had another gun in a holster on his body.
Officers closed Highway 20 for more than half a mile east of United General Hospital during the investigation. Eastbound traffic slowed to a crawl as it was diverted along Collins Road to bypass the shooting scene.
The man’s body was lying directly behind the vehicle after the incident, and two handguns that police said belonged to the suspect were laying about five feet from his body.
Residents of the few nearby houses on Pebble Lane gathered near the scene. Most said they heard gunshots but did not want to discuss the incident.
Krista Sharp said she heard at least three bangs while she was studying in her house.
“I thought it was my dad banging around in the shop,” Sharp said. “I heard the shots, but I didn’t think anything of it.”
But when Sharp and her neighbors stepped outside, they saw the Blazer on the shoulder of Highway 20 with the driver’s-side headlight banged up, steam rising from under the hood and fluid leaking onto the highway.
Around 6 p.m., the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation.
Wood said many details are still unknown. The officer, a 32-year-old man who recently returned from a nine-month tour of duty with the Navy in the Middle East, was put on administrative leave as standard procedure. He had not yet been fully questioned.
“It happened very, very fast,” Wood said.
Police were still unsure if alcohol was involved or why the man approached the officer with a gun, Wood said. The chief said he did not know if the man said anything to the officer during the incident.
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